Kyle Larson is favored, with Blaney right behind
Ryan Blaney has finished top-three in five of his last six starts, dating back to last year, and the one time he didn’t was due to a crash at Daytona. So that doesn’t count against him.
No sane reason to think that won’t continue at Phoenix, where his runner-up finish last November made him the champ.
What? Runner-up … champ? Hey, it happens.
Did you hear that door slam? Sanity just left the room. Let’s do a random stroll through Hard Rock’s NASCAR board for this week and see if we can take advantage of sanity’s exit and Blaney’s upcoming oops.
Guess who has better odds than Ryan Blaney
Kyle Larson +550; Ryan Blaney +650; William Byron +700; Ross Chastain +800; Denny Hamlin +850
Nope, it’s not Ross “The Boss” Chastain, who not only angered Blaney last November at Phoenix, but took the win and made Blaney share some of the post-race, post-championship champagne.
I lean more toward Billy the Kid here, at +700. He had a winning car last week but miscues forced him to dig like hell for a 10th-place finish. The 24 Chevy is pawing at the dirt.
The Chase Division
Chase Elliott +1750; Chase Briscoe +2000
Up until he broke his leg last year, Billy Clyde was the week-in and weekout favorite. That was largely due to many bettors wagering with their heart instead of head, but a lot of us have been known to sub-out our thought processes to locales south of the gray matter.
Where has the love gone for Chase Elliott? He’s the 12th favorite for Phoenix. TWELFTH!
Chase Briscoe, meanwhile, has three top-10s and a win in his last six starts in the desert. He’s worth a tickle.
Cue The Temptations
Alex Bowman +4000; Noah Gragson +10000; Corey LaJoie +25000
“Ain’t too proud to beg,” the Motown giants crooned. I lump Bowman in with these other two high-paying tempters because +4000 is a way-too-big number for a Chevrolet prepped and primed by the help over at Rick Hendrick’s garage.
Top Ford driver
Ryan Blaney +150; Chase Briscoe +575; Chris Buescher +600
Yes, there are several other Ford pilots on the odds board, but these are the three who jumped out. Blaney because he’s due (to mess up) and Buescher because he’s also due (to not mess up). The reasoning with Briscoe was mentioned above.
The Ford division is a 14-driver race, but once you erase a Kaz Grala here, a Justin Haley there, etc., it’s really just a five-man battle. Here’s a real opportunity to feel like a fool, but I really like Briscoe.